Bradfield is a small village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 and civil parish in Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The parish also includes the now rather larger village of Bradfield Southend

Southend, Berkshire

Southend is a village in the west of the civil parish of Bradfield in the English county of Berkshire. Its postcode is RG7 6xx.Catherine and Pippa Middleton lived here with their family throughout the 1980s.-External links:...

, and the hamlet of Tutts Clump

Tutts Clump

Tutts Clump is a small village in the civil parish of Bradfield in the English county of Berkshire. . It is 8 miles from the centre of Reading....

.

Bradfield village is the home of the public school Bradfield College

Bradfield College

Bradfield College is a coeducational independent school located in the small village of Bradfield in the English county of Berkshire.The college was founded in 1850 by Thomas Stevens, Rector and Lord of the Manor of Bradfield...

, whilst Bradfield Southend is well-known locally for the display of outdoor Christmas lights put on by many residents.

Location

Bradfield is located on low lying land adjacent to the River Pang

River Pang

The River Pang is a small chalk stream river in the west of the English county of Berkshire, and a tributary of the River Thames. It runs for approximately from its source near the village of Compton to its confluence with the Thames in the village of Pangbourne.The river, and its water voles, are...

 about seven miles west of Reading

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

, where the Theale

Theale, Berkshire

Theale is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The village has many of the attributes of a small town, with a high street lined with shops, pubs and restaurants.- Location :...

 to Compton

Compton, Berkshire

Compton is a village and civil parish in the River Pang valley in the Berkshire Downs about south of Didcot. It has a population of 1,521. The Pang flows through the village as a winter bourne, a stream that only flows after periods of unusually high rainfall.-Parish church:The bell tower of the...

 road crosses the river. Bradfield Southend, by contrast, is situated about a mile to the south west on the ridge-line separating the valleys of the River Pang and the River Kennet

River Kennet

The Kennet is a river in the south of England, and a tributary of the River Thames. The lower reaches of the river are navigable to river craft and are known as the Kennet Navigation, which, together with the Avon Navigation, the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Thames, links the cities of Bristol...

. Other villages and hamlets in the parish include Southend, Tutts Clumps and Rotten Row. There is a complex of ponds in the vicinity of the latter containing very good examples of artesian aquifer

Artesian aquifer

An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. This causes the water level in a well to rise to a point where hydrostatic equilibrium has been reached. This type of well is called an artesian well...

s. Best known of these is 'The Blue Pool' which has delighted generations of children. In recent years, the current owners have had to deny access to the site due to minor fluctuating levels of pollution. Plans for better access have not yet come to fruition.

Position: (Bradfield), (Bradfield Southend)

Nearby towns and cities: Reading

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

Nearby villages: Theale

Theale, Berkshire

Theale is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The village has many of the attributes of a small town, with a high street lined with shops, pubs and restaurants.- Location :...

, Stanford Dingley

Stanford Dingley

Stanford Dingley is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is also an ecclesiastical parish within the Diocese of Oxford, part of the Church of England.It is situated in the West Berkshire district, between Newbury and Theale....

, Englefield

Englefield, Berkshire

Englefield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. The village is mostly within the bounds of the private walled estate of Englefield House....

, Tidmarsh

Tidmarsh

Tidmarsh is a village in the English county of Berkshire, on the A340 road between Pangbourne and Theale. It lies just north of the M4 motorway. It is south of Pangbourne, west of Reading and west of London....

, Upper Basildon

Upper Basildon

Upper Basildon is a small village in the civil parish of Basildon, near to Pangbourne, in the English county of Berkshire. It has a church, dedicated to St. Stephen, built in 1964 in the shape of the Christian secret symbol of a fish.-External links:*...

, Pangbourne

Pangbourne

Pangbourne is a large village and civil parish on the River Thames in the English county of Berkshire. Pangbourne is the home of the independent school, Pangbourne College.-Location:...

Local government

Bradfield is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the area of the unitary authority

Unitary authority

A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...

 of West Berkshire

West Berkshire

West Berkshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England, governed by a unitary authority . Its administrative capital is Newbury, located almost equidistantly between Bristol and London.-Geography:...

. Both the parish council and the unitary authority are responsible for different aspects of local government.

External links

• The Blue Pool